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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Hour of Code

All students in the high school participated in the Hour of Code activities during math class for 2 days. Each student was asked to choose the level (novice, apprentice, ninja) he/she felt most comfortable with. The students then went to the classroom of the level they selected. Each room had a facilitator (a teacher, student, or community member volunteer) to answer questions. Students could choose which tutorials or activities to do. All activities were self directed.

Feedback:

What did you like about the activities?

That we got to choose what we used and what we could do with it

That you had a lot of independence as you progressed through the levels

I liked the videos of the different people talking about the importance of coding.

The activities were simple games that were easy to understand and even fun!

I like the fact that Code Academy allows the user to learn from many different languages that all effect student in everyday life

I really liked how it didn't feel like you were learning or working on the games, it felt like you were actually playing a game.

You feel accomplished when you finish a level

I liked that they were a challenge and and involved math, but were also fun to play.

In Blockly, I loved how they made it fun, but still had to do with coding, especially since this was my very first time ever doing it, they made it not boring, very interesting!

My Observations

Students were very engaged with the activities. They really looked like they were having fun.

I enjoyed watching the collaboration happening in some classrooms.

I was interested that some students wanted to be "taught" by an instructor.

The student facilitators were well prepared.

Our community visitors added a nice element. Students who are interested in computer programming as a career were able to speak with them directly. They made terrific coaches!

At first we had more novices, by the afternoon, many students felt that they could be at the apprentice level.